DECEPTIVE REFUGE (part II)

"Today is a very special day for our young and promising future leaders", the minister was saying. "so what're we old men and women doing here on a children's day?" he asked jokingly as a low rumble of laughter emanated from the crowd. The laughter had hardly died down when the minister's head jerked sideways with a tremendous force before he slumped to the ground. It took the secret service bodyguard behind him and people close to the minister a few seconds to comprehend what had happened as a bright-red pool of blood formed around the lifeless body of the minister of education dotted with chunks of brain matter. Furore broke over the crowd as screams rose from one corner to the other. A mother nearby shielded her child's eyes from the grotesque figure as she shouted a 'jesus christ!'. Another man had exclaimed 'Chineke!' with both his hands on his head as the once serene environment abruptly turned into a mixture of cries and screams. The left side of the minister's head was completely gone as the bullet passed into the left temple and had taken off a great part of the right side of his face in an exit wound, he was already dead even before his body hit the ground. Children were immediately hurried into their school buses by their teachers as many others took to their heels amidst the blaring of ambulance sirens. Immediately after watching his target fall, the assassin dismantled his rifle, removed his ski-mask to reveal a smirk and left the same way he came as the sounds of the melee rose behind him like the shadow of a gathering cloud. A few seconds later, the young priest quietly descended the stairs of the building. "what is the noise all about?" he asked a trader, "dem don shoot person" the timorous trader replied in pidgin english. The priest did a sign of the cross and left. * * * Agent Edmund Mark stole a quick glance at the brown envelope lying precariously on the empty seat next to him as he drove home in his old Vectra GT. Being an erudite member of the NSCC - an acronym for the Nigerian special crime control, he built his reverenced reputation on extraordinary performances in his duty, his stoic nature and sharp instincts. Standing handsomely tall with an innocent look always on his face, he never ceases to catch the attention of pretty girls who had no idea of the onerous nature behind the mask of his enticing physique. With his right hand under his chin and the other on the steering wheel, he reminisced on the events of the past few days - the enigmatic disappearance of two altruistic politicians on whom the whole nation depended on for the long-anticipated transformation of the corrupt leadership of the country. Then recently, the grotesque murder of the well-loved minister of education whose ascension to the presidential seat come next election, was obviously close to definite. Agent Mark had never failed in an investigation before in the history of his career but the recent case had hit him below the belt coupled with discouraging tardiness and occasional dead-end. Other cases took him not less than two days to "connect the dots" as his boss would always say but this one had gone on for three days without success until today. He remembered the words of the director of NSCC and smiled inwardly. "this case have dragged us all into the mud but I still trust in your instincts Ed". Col. Ibe had said as he patted his shoulder reassuringly the previous day. The intimacy between the both of then was one envied by other members of the agency who saw and feared the taciturn director as a demi god. He stared at the envelope for the second time as he was jarred out of his reverie by the blaring of horns on the busy road. A ray of hope creased his perplexed mind as he continued his journey home. Only a day before, he had received an information that elevated his optimism on the case, he had received a memory card from a digital camera which contained a blurry video clip. A school child had been luckily viewing and recording the ambience of the Eagle square when the camera caught something out of the ordinary from a building opposite his position at the same time that the minister was shot. Still behind the steering wheel, agent Mark picked up his cellphone from the dashboard and spoke into it when it connected after the second ring. "I need to ask you a favour sir," he said